Two days ago, we sailed on the high seas. I am lying in my cabin, staring at the ceiling, having to deal with my pain alone. Luna Meredith and the Alpha did not accompany me.
A phone call and there it was, my fate was sealed alongside the cruel King Alpha Jaden Brown. A man who doesn't even remember his own family. The eldest son, the son who rejected the position of Alpha in his pack and became the king of all others.
He believed in the prophecy and chased after his future, claiming what he believed was rightfully his – and which became his, even with everyone else saying it was madness.
Less than one month ago, I would never have imagined it would end like this. That my mate would betray me. That I would be alone in life. That I would have to leave everything I believed in.
I sigh heavily as I open the door to the room, feeling the boat move in the water. It was a bit warm, but as I reached the stern, I could see solid ground just a few meters away. I sigh in relief.
"We've arrived, ma'am!" The commander says, hands resting on the railing in front of his body.
"Ah... thank you!" I reply.
We were still a few meters from shore. My eyes stare at the solid ground until I feel a hand against my back, and my body is thrown into the sea. I fall, my body hits the water, and I sink all at once.
It took some time to understand what was happening. I can't swim, so I thrash underwater. My body struggles to rise, but I feel myself sinking with each damned second.
I can't breathe. I struggle to rise and catch any bit of air, but I can't. I'm losing consciousness. My lungs burn.
"Fight, Malia!" A voice says in my head. "Fight!"
I'm still underwater. It's silent here. Where is this voice coming from?
"I'm in your head, Malia!" It shouts. "Fight, girl!"
I can't. My arms move tiredly, as do my legs. I am weak. I feel my body dying slowly.
"Malia, no!" I hear a shout in my ear, and I lose consciousness, surrendering to the darkness.
Air fills my lungs and I wake up, spitting water all over the floor. I turn over, still expelling water. I gasp desperately, thankful for the sensation of finally breathing.
"Are you alright?" The man's voice behind me catches my attention, but I can't speak. My throat burns.
I sit on my knees, but I'm weak and topple to the side, where strong arms envelop me. I close my eyes, feeling calm, finally.
"Mate!" The voice in my head shouts. "My Mate!"
My whole body shivers, and I grip his arm tightly, lifting my eyes to the face of the stranger.
"Mine!" He murmurs, his piercing eyes focused on me.
"Mine!" I say. The words come out of my mouth without any control. "W-what?"
"My mate! Mine!" The voice says again. "I'm your wolf, Malia! And this is our second chance mate."
Our eyes meet. My breath, which I just regained, falters, and when he reaches for my hair and tries to kiss me, I turn away.
His eyes narrow in my direction, confused."Who are you?" I whisper.
"Jaden. Jaden Brown. Alpha King." He murmurs, smiling at me. "And you?"
"Malia. Your brother's rejected mate." I whisper, shrinking.His eyes look at me confused, as he releases me and stands up. He runs his fingers through his hair and then rubs his face.
"What are you doing on my lands? You're far from home." His voice is rude, for the first time.
What's wrong with him?
"You weren't expecting me?" I ask, confused.
"Of course not. I want nothing to do with that damn family. Especially... a rejected woman." He says, and a pang hits me.
"I... your mother... she sent me here..." I lower my eyes to my fingers. "I'm sorry, I..."
"And how did you end up in the sea?" He asks, his eyes narrowed.
"When we were close to your lands, the commander approached me at the stern of the boat and claimed we were arriving. However, a second later, I was falling into the sea..." I look at him. "I can't swim."
"Oh!" He laughs, disbelievingly. "Take her to the pack hospital. I'll go after Lilith!"
"Yes, sir!" One of the guards says as he approaches me.
He helped me up carefully, and I could swear I heard a growl from Jaden as soon as the man passed one of his arms around my waist to support me.
"Wait, wait," I ask, for a second. "Can we go slowly?"
I hear him snort.
"Come!" Jaden says, passing his arms under my legs and lifting me off the ground. "Have Lilith meet me at the hospital."
"Yes, sir!" The guard responds.
Jaden carries me as I rest my head on his shoulder. The wolf in my head purrs for him. He smiles, seeming to purr back to her. I shrink even more, embarrassed.
I had never had such a close relationship with my former mate. I felt incomplete for not having a wolf and always having to act like ordinary humans.
When we arrive at the hospital, he puts me on the bed, and the doctor appears at the door just a few seconds later.
"Look, we have a bad swimmer here!" The doctor smiles as he enters.
"Hello, doctor!" I murmur, shrinking.
"How are you feeling?" He asks, his smile fading.
"In pain. Mostly at my side." I say while running my finger along my spine.
"How did your accident happen?" He asks, running his hand through his beard.
"I fell off the boat that was bringing me here," I murmur, embarrassed.
"Hmm." He murmurs. "Alpha King can you arrange dry clothes for Miss..."
"Malia!" I say.
"For Miss Malia? In the meantime, I can examine her." He says.
Jaden is focused for a few seconds and then returns to the doctor.
"Done." He crosses his arms.
The doctor smiles and nods.
"Well, if you don't mind, Miss Malia, can you take off your blouse so I can examine the area?"
Jaden"Why does she need to take off her blouse?" I interrupt Doctor Paul."So I can see the affected area, Jaden," he says, staring at me. "We need to get an idea of the damage. A fall, depending on the height, could result in serious fractures.""I don't think it's necessary for her to..." I sigh. "She's not going to take her shirt off in front of a man she doesn't know." My eyes land on her."B-but, Alpha King..." she murmurs.I growl. How dare he even think to ask my mate to strip in front of him? What kind of pervert do I have as a doctor?"What am I missing here?" Paul finally asks."Jaden," Lilith's voice catches my attention as she enters the hospital and sighs loudly. "Let the doctor examine her!""He wants her to undress," I argue."He wants to take care of her. Or do you want her to be in pain all over her body?" Lilith asks, raising her eyebrows at me. "You can undress, dear."With embarrassment, Malia does so. I widen my eyes as I realize she's not wearing a bra. I approa
MaliaAn omega sets a generous plate in front of me, and my stomach rumbles. I haven't eaten since last night before going to bed. I don't know how many hours have passed, but I didn't have breakfast before being pushed off the boat."Eat!" Jaden commands, sitting beside me. He picks up his fork and knife and fills his mouth, chewing. He swallows and stares at me. "Tell me, what happened for you to end up here. From the looks of it, you're far from home.""Yes, I am!" I sigh. First, I take a bite of my food. I focus on how to start telling my story, but no point seems good enough. "I don't have, I mean, I didn't have a wolf. Until this morning, I was a girl without a wolf. I've always been the disgrace of my family, my father's shame... until I became Joshua Brown's mate, your brother," I pause, and he growls. "Well, it turns out we had only a year between finding each other and him leaving for war. We got married and only had time for our honeymoon, which was particularly terrible."
Malia After the kiss, Jaden seemed to be fighting his wolf not to devour me at the minute that we were in the same place. "This is your room," He opens a door, giving me entry. "This is where you will sleep. Luna's room is next to mine." "This is Luna's room?" I ask, amazed. "Yes, that's what you will be." Jaden murmurs with a huge smile. "Jaden, I don't..." I turn to face him, but I lose my words. I can't accept this. I can't simply take a place like that. I never imagined it would be mine. He is King Alpha, not by right, but by honor. What did I do to help conquer his empire? What did the moon goddess see in me to hand me over to an Alpha King? "I don't understand," He says, holding my elbow. "Why don't you want Luna's room?" "I'm not Luna, Jaden. You're not even sure if I'm your mate, so how can you give me such an honor? I don't know if I deserve this!" "And why wouldn't you be?" He asks, with confusion in his eyes. "I don't know. I'm divorced!" I stare at my fingers. "I
Jaden I paced back and forth in my office. Lilith was sitting on the floor, legs folded in a butterfly position, hands resting on her knees, posture upright, eyes closed, and the natural crease in her forehead, which always appeared when she was very focused. "If you keep walking like that, you're going to open a hole in the floor." She says, floating on the floor. A circle was drawn with salt around her and some candles were carefully lit outside. "Am I bothering you?" I ask, stopping to stare at her. "Yes!" It's the only thing she responds before seeming even more immersed. I sit in the armchair and run my hands over my face one or two times, rubbing my fingers together. I was too anxious to stay still. Seconds later, Lilith sits on the floor and opens her eyes. She stares at me with narrowed eyes and stands up, dusting off her long dress, moistening her lips, and walking towards me. "I could hardly see anything, all because of your impatience." She huffs, sitting in front of
Malia When Jaden opens the door, I finally take everything in, stunned, too shocked to believe. The room is huge with several shelves that go from floor to ceiling. "Is all of this... yours?" I ask, and I'm sure my eyes are sparkling. I have always been passionate about books and the world of books. Hiding in a life that wasn't mine seemed much more comfortable than having to deal with my harsh, unhappy, and humiliating reality. I also wasn't allowed to touch the library in my house. I had to clean and help the maids, who were the only nice people to me in that house. My parents didn't have a rank in the pack, but they were rich, and for them, it was disrespectful that I was so weak and incapable. I was hidden from society for several years, studied at a public school of the pack, and couldn't say that I was from the family. I suffered bullying at home and school, being rejected by my family to the point of living like a poor omega. They were never ashamed to show everyone that I
A little clumsily, I stood up and took quick steps towards Jaden, finding Catherine standing in the doorway. "Oh, dear," she puts her hand to her lips. "I got in the way of something." "No," "Yes," we say at the same time and face each other seconds later. "Of course, she got in our way," he rolls his eyes. "What does Liam want?" "No, but he's downstairs, waiting in the Hall!" She sighs heavily. Jaden keeps a scowl on his face and waves to her as he leaves the room. He doesn't face me and I realize that he must not be someone my mate likes to receive. "He also brought an entourage with him," Catherine mutters, walking a little behind me. I face her, frowning. She gives me a meaningful look and I just nod, trying to keep my tongue inside my mouth. I don't feel comfortable giving my opinion and I've never had that space with Joshua and his family. At times, I believed that I was a piece of work that they kept with them. We wolves believe in the power of the bond. When the
Jaden "I stretch in the middle of training. Lilith wiggles her legs in amusement as she stares at my shirtless companions doing the same warm-up as me. I watch her as she sticks a licorice in her mouth and takes a bite. "Take your eyes off her," my coach says, raising my face to him. "Sorry," I whisper. "You'll be Alpha, Jaden! You have to keep your head on straight and set an example," he mutters. "Don't let me down." "Got it!" I whisper. He takes a few steps back, moving out of my way and leaving me face-to-face with Liam. My cousin. The biggest son of a bitch in the world. I fucking hated him. He could be a fucking pain in the ass, even if we only saw each other a few times a year. He'd come here for the vacations and my uncle demanded that he train to keep fit, even though I didn't think it was necessary. "You really like the witch," he says, giving me a teasing look. "I could never see anything in her before," her eyes meet mine as a challenge, "but now you seem to
'Wake up, you idiot!' I hear a grunt inside my head and shift in bed. 'Liam is already in the dining room and chatting away, I'm not putting up with this alone,' Catherine says, angrily. I open my eyes, still trying to orient myself. By this time, the TV screen has already been turned off and the room is dark. I slept better than I had in months. I feel stupidly light. The smell of Malia invades my nose and I groan, feeling hard. Almost at the same time, she stirs and I close my fingers against her blouse. "What time is it?" She asks, her voice hoarse and sleepy. "Dinner time," I murmur. "Oh, heavens!" She sits up quickly. "We need to get ready." "The idea of declining dinner with that idiot and spending the night in bed with you sounds so good to me," I whisper as I sit next to her. I hide my face in her neck and nibble, as I hear her moan softly. Her hairs stand on end and she closes her legs. The smell of her excitement fills the room and she moistens her own lips. "Jaden,"